Shamans work with animal spirits, which they believe provide knowledge and wisdom. Many people in the modern world are turning to Shamanism as a way of healing themselves and finding guidance in the ancient practices of Shamanism.
Shamanism blends personal and individual healing beliefs with an ideology geared towards environmental preservation and spirituality.
The Ideology Behind Shamanic Healing
Shamanic healing is a spiritual method of healing that deals with the spiritual aspect of illness. There are three common causes of illness in the shaman’s worldview. A person may have lost his or her power, causing depression, chronic illness, or a series of misfortunes. In this case, the shaman journeys to restore that person’s lost power.
In some cases Shamans believe that a person may have lost part of their soul or essence, causing soul loss, which sometimes occurs during an emotional or physical trauma, such as accidents, surgery, abuse, the trauma of war, being in a natural disaster, divorce, the death of a loved one, or other traumatic circumstances.
Soul loss can result in dissociation, post-traumatic stress syndrome, depression, illness, immune deficiency problems, addictions, unending grief, or coma. Soul loss can prevent us from creating healthy relationships and the life we truly wish to live. It is the role of the shaman to track down the parts that have fled and been lost due to trauma by performing a soul retrieval ceremony. Another cause of illness from a shamanic perspective would be any spiritual blockages or negative energies a client has taken on due to the loss of his or her power or soul.
These spiritual blockages also cause illness, usually in a localised area of the body. It is the role of the shaman to extract and remove these harmful energies from the body.
Crossing Over
A shaman heals both the living and the deceased. In healing those who have died, the shaman performs a ceremony to help those who have died cross over to a comfortable and peaceful place. The ceremony may also include clearing a home or land of spirits that are in a state of unrest.
As shamanic healing deals with the spiritual aspect of illness there is no way to predict the results that will manifest emotionally or physically. Shamanic healing does not replace the need for traditional psychological and medical treatment.
There are different ways that practitioners can work. One way is for the shamanic practitioner to only provide spiritual healing and follow up treatments if necessary. Another option is after the healing work to continue to work with the shamanic practitioner on the process of integration.
The purpose of continuing the work would be to find ways to restore balance and harmony in an individual’s life and create a positive present and future for someone through the use of spiritual practices and ceremonies.
Finding the Right Shamanic Healer:
- Look up resources in the local area and try to find someone face to face. It is best to work with the practitioner in person rather than long distance. Long distance work can be done with shamanic healing, but the best results occur when the client sees the practitioner in person unless there is a critical situation that prevents the client from travelling
- Talk to the practitioners and choose a person who feels comfortable to work with
- Find a practitioner who is flexible in their fees
- Make sure the practitioner is accessible and does follow up work if required.
The shamanic practitioner listens to the problem the client presents and then consults with his or her healing spirits for the spiritual diagnosis and the proper healing method. All shamanic practitioners have different styles of working. A good shamanic practitioner follows the directions of their helping spirits who know what is best for the client.
Source:
Madden, Kristen The Book of Shamanic Healing. Llewellyn Publications, U.S; 2002. ISBN-10: 0738702714
